


A warm place

by Laughingvirus



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Catboy Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Foxboy Yang Jeongin | I.N, M/M, Shifters, Soft Boys, felix is a bit sad but he gets a very happy ending, hints of past animal abuse, skz are a pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28096692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laughingvirus/pseuds/Laughingvirus
Summary: He had seen an opportunity to escape, and he had taken it.
Relationships: Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 13
Kudos: 62
Collections: A thousand memories and a million more to come





	A warm place

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SKZMemories](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SKZMemories) collection. 



Felix ran as fast as his little paws could carry him. His heart was drumming in his ribcage and fear was pumping through his veins. He didn’t dare to stop running. What if they caught up to him?

He kept running, not caring about the twigs and dirt that got stuck in his long white fur as he passed the thick underbrush of the forest. As he ran, the bell around his neck chimed constantly. He would need to stop and get it off, but he wouldn’t be able to shift if the collar was on. And he wouldn’t be able to get the collar off by himself. He had tried when he had attempted to run away last time.

If he had been in human form right now, he would be crying.

When he finally stopped, his heart was racing and his breathing was heavy. He looked around the forest, ears flattening as he realized how deep into the woods he was. Everything around him was dark, and it was growing darker by the second as the sun was setting.

How was he going to make it by himself out here?

He hadn’t thought this through. He had seen an opportunity to escape, and he had taken it.

Now he was standing in the middle of the dark forest, all by himself.

Oh no, oh no. This was bad.

As he had stopped, the sounds of the forest made it to his ears and now hit little heart was pounding with fear. Maybe he should go back. Maybe getting yelled at on a daily basis was a better option than to be eaten by a predator out here.

It felt like the world was closing in around him. The trees were so tall, the darkness was swallowing everything up and the sounds grew closer.

The sudden snap of a branch caused him to jump backwards. There was a rustling coming from the bushes ahead of him and Felix backed away, until he was pressed firmly against the root of a huge tree.

As he held his breath, his mind kept racing with possible outcomes. What kind of predator would jump out of the bushes and kill him? A wolf? A bear? A-

A boy peered out from the bushes, his red hair messy and fox ears twitching. His eyes were wide and curious as he looked at Felix. He looked young, some baby fat making his face rounder and softer.

“Oh, hello,” he said as he stepped out of the thick underbrush. He was wearing a white t-shirt, patches of dirt all over it and a pair of worn shorts. As he crouched down in front of Felix, his orange tail made it into view. “Did I scare you?” he asked, tilting his head.

Felix only stared at him.

“Are you a shifter too? Or a regular cat?” he asked, seemingly not minding the lack of response from Felix. The fox boy leaned closer to Felix, and Felix didn’t dare to move.

Sure, the fox boy was a shifter just like Felix, but there was nothing to say that he wouldn’t kill Felix. His owners had told him the stories about shifters living in the forest and how they wouldn’t hesitate killing Felix.

_ You’re too weak for anyone to bother keeping you around. You should be grateful we’re keeping you. _

Felix cowered, pushing himself against the root of the tree.

The fox boy’s ears twitched and he leaned even closer.

“Your collar is making a lot of noise,” he said, reaching out towards Felix. Then he paused and glanced around them. His dark eyes returned to Felix. “You should remove it before someone else hears it.”

Before Felix could react, the fox boy reached out for the collar and in a swift movement removed it. He tossed it to the side, the bell chiming sadly one last time before it settled in the dirt.

“I’m Jeongin,” he said with a toothy grin.

Felix’s whole body was trembling. Should he shift and talk to Jeongin. He seemed like he wouldn’t hurt him…

He had nothing to lose.

He shifted back, and it felt odd being in human form. He hadn’t taken human form for a couple of months. He was still wearing those dirty clothes he had been wearing when he had been forced to wear the collar.

“Oh,” Jeongin said softly, scurrying backwards to give Felix some space. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Felix whispered, not daring to raise his voice. “I’m… I’m Felix.”

“Felix,” Jeongin repeated. “That’s a very nice name.”

“Thank you.”

There was a short pause before Jeongin spoke again.

“Why are you here Felix?” He tilted his head again, blinking. “Not many domestic animals come here. I mean, at least I assume you live with a human family.” He glanced towards the discarded collar.

“I’m not- I don’t want to live with them,” Felix whispered, lowering his gaze and he curled into himself. “I ran away.”

“Oh,” Jeongin said softly. “Why?”

Felix looked up.

“Why did you run away?” Jeongin asked, his ears flattening a little. He looked sad. “Didn’t you like your family?”

“No,” Felix said, shaking his head. “They- They didn’t like me. Didn’t think I was good enough as a pet. I was just… just a pretty cat, an expensive breed they could show off. They didn’t like me much.”

“I’m sorry,” Jeongin whispered.

Felix only nodded, his eyes stinging with tears as he thought back to his old home. Despite being out in the middle of the forest, he felt like he could at least breathe.

“Do you… do you have anywhere to stay?” Jeongin asked, but before Felix could reply, he spoke again. “I mean- That was stupid of me.” He shook his head to himself. “I’m sorry, let me try again.” He took a deep breath. “Would you want to stay with me and my pack?”

“Y-you have a pack?”

Jeongin nodded.

“Wouldn’t they… What would they say if you brought home a cat?” He paused. “I’m a domestic animal… I don’t know if I fit in a-a pack.”

“You don’t have to stay but…” Jeongin licked his lips, ears drooping a bit. “You’ll be safe. I promise. My pack is very nice! We even have a rabbit!”

“A rabbit?”

Jeongin nodded again, carefully offering his hand to Felix.

“You can just meet them and,” he licked his lips, “if you don’t like it we won’t force you to stay with us. You can leave if you want to.”

Felix nodded, his throat dry and he took Jeongin’s hand. He wasn’t sure if he was making the right choice, but honestly he was kind of out of options at this point. Jeongin hadn’t killed him yet, so maybe things would turn out okay.

  
  
  
  
  


Things had turned out way better than he had expected. Jeongin’s pack was living in a small cabin, hidden well in the deep, dense forest. Jeongin had mentioned a rabbit in his pack, so Felix had assumed that it would be quite the odd bunch but he hadn’t been prepared on just how odd it really was.

The leader was a wolf, and in the pack was another feline, but rather than being a domestic cat like Felix he seemed to be a larger type. Felix didn’t have time to ask him, nor did he dare to ask. There was another wolf in the mix, a squirrel, a bear but he seemed more like a dog than anything and then there was the rabbit.

None of them asked prying questions, they just welcomed him with open arms and for the first time in very long, Felix felt like he was allowed to be somewhere. They just let him be, asking him if he needed anything or if they could do anything to make him more comfortable.

It felt nice.

When his eyelids grew heavy and he couldn’t seem to stop yawning, Jeongin had been the first one to stand up and bring him away from the shared living room slash kitchen.

“You can sleep here,” he said, his voice soft and so gentle it almost hurt. He had led Felix to the hallway where multiple doors lined the walls. They walked past all of them until they got to the last door and Jeongin pushed it open.

The room was small, but it immediately felt cozy. Felix had grown up surrounded by minimalistic design and pale colors, but this room was so different. All the furniture was mismatched and dark in color. The carpet was a bit worn, but it only further made the place feel like a home.

“This is my room,” Jeongin said, averting his eyes when Felix looked at him. “You can sleep here.”

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“The couch, or I’ll sleep with someone else.”

Felix thought for a moment, eyes downcast and teeth worrying his lower lip. “I don’t want to steal your bed,” he mumbled.

“You’re not!” Jeongin said.

“I…” Felix trailed off, looking down at their hands and he gave Jeongin’s hand a small squeeze. “I like sleeping in animal form…” he whispered. “I’m very small, so you… you can stay.”

He didn’t meet Jeongin’s gaze but he could feel Jeongin looking at him.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“…please.”

Jeongin was quiet and Felix looked up, nervousness gnawing on his gut. He didn’t want to be alone tonight but maybe Jeongin wouldn’t want to stay with him. It would make sense after all.

“I’ll stay,” Jeongin said, beaming like the sun.

Felix’s heart fluttered in his chest as Jeongin pulled him inside the room and closed the door behind them.

“Do you want to get out of your dirty clothes and we can get you some clean ones in the morning?” Jeongin asked.

Felix looked down at himself, tugging at the hem of his very dirty t-shirt.

“Clean ones would be nice,” he whispered, glancing up at Jeongin. “Could you… look away?”

Jeongin nodded and spun around, turning his back to Felix as he stripped out of the dirty clothes and quickly shifted. He let out a quiet meow, pawing at the pile of clothes. The worst thing about not having hands was that he couldn’t really help with carrying the clothes somewhere.

“I’ll take them,” Jeongin said, snatching the clothes off the floor and chucking them into a bin at the corner of his room. “You can get on the bed and I’ll just get ready for bed.”

Felix did as told, jumping up onto the bed and he curled up, resting his head on the soft blanket while he waited for Jeongin.

It didn’t take long until Jeongin returned in his pajamas and a wide smile on his lips. He pulled up the blanket, allowing Felix to crawl under the blanket with him. Jeongin shifted and moved to lay on his side, and Felix immediately curled up against his chest.

A million questions were rushing through Felix’s mind, but when Jeongin began to scratch him behind his ear and a purr began to rumble in his chest, he decided that those could wait until tomorrow.

For now, he would just sleep, feeling warm and secure.


End file.
